


Lucky Kids

by phoenixgal



Series: Scenes from a Life [9]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Cousins, Dudley Dursley Has a Magical Child, F/M, Family, Past Child Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-21
Updated: 2017-03-21
Packaged: 2018-10-08 19:42:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10394628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenixgal/pseuds/phoenixgal
Summary: Harry really isn't looking forward to seeing the Dursleys, even if they apparently need him. Luckily, Ginny has his back.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I know, I know. This is such a trope. I just firmly believe it happened. When I originally read the epilogue, I was literally waiting for Dudley to show up on the platform.

“For Godric's sake, Jamie, take that off right now!”

Harry watched Ginny grab their oldest son by his ankle and drag him back down to earth.

“James Sirius Potter, you know the rules when we're around Muggles,” she hissed at him, yanking the Hopping Hat off his head and balling it up. “You are far too old for mistakes like this. If I have to obliviate anyone today thanks to you, I'll take away your broom for the next two weeks and I'll have that stash of sweets you think is secret out of your room as well!”

As she held it in her hand, telling James off, Albus casually took it from her and shoved it in his pocket, smiling broadly.

“Mum!” James cried. “Are you going to let him get away with that?”

“Don't you Mum me,” she said. Then she eyed Harry. “Why aren't you helping?”

“I don't even want to be here,” he complained.

“Does that mean we can go home, Dad?”

“Harry!” Ginny said, exasperated.

“I want to meet the other cousins!” Lily cried. “We can't go home! They have a girl my age.” She was clearly a bit tired of being the youngest girl. Rose and Dom and Roxy were all at least a year or two older and she was often excluded from their games at family gatherings and she didn't always get along with Hugo and Louis, who were just her age.

“I never agreed to this,” Harry muttered.

The kids kept walking along the sidewalk, but Ginny paused and got right into his face. “If you tell me to handle something that you ought to do, Harry, I'll bloody well handle it and you will bloody well get over yourself.”

Usually this sort of thing worked on him. Ginny in bossy mode generally made him either want to take charge or made him want to completely acquiesce and do whatever she ordered. Today, it was just making him irritated. He could feel the unpleasant buzz in his head that proceeded having an unpleasant bout of anxiety and he hated when that happened around the kids. The idea that it would happen around the kids and the Dursleys was a bit unthinkable and only added to the sense of dread in his stomach.

“I think that's it,” James said, marching up to a brick house with white shutters.

Ginny glared at him as they approached the house. Then she sighed loudly and he realized he'd probably been expected to say something.

“Everyone should be on their best Muggle behavior!” she insisted. “Have you got that? James? Albus?”

“Me too!” Lily said.

“Yes, you too, Lily dear,” she said, though it was obvious that Lily might be the only one on their best behavior, Harry thought.

As the door opened, he had a strange desire to jump forward and grab Lily. Why had he let the kids stand so close to the door anyway?

He breathed a sigh of relief that standing at the door was a little girl of about six or seven years old, just Lily's age. She had neat strawberry braids and a little red corduroy dress. She had hesitant smile and Harry was struck immediately with a memory, long lost and not his own. “Hello,” she said.

Lily, never one for decorum, barreled forward and grasped the little girl. “Hello, cousin Georgia! I'm your cousin Lily Luna Potter and I'm very pleased to meet you!”

The boys snickered and Ginny sighed. Harry felt frozen in place.

Hurrying down the stairs behind the door, Harry felt a small shock of recognition as a tall, heavily built man came into view, holding a squirming toddler, whose face was covered in what looked like the remnants of a mud pie.

“Sorry if we're early,” Ginny said. “You must be Dudley?”

“No, you're not early. Alfie just insists on making messes in the garden all the time. Um...” Dudley slung the toddler around to his side and held out a slightly grimy hand to Ginny. “Pleased to meet you,” he said.

Harry was pleased that Dudley at least looked uncomfortable as he shook hands with Ginny and then was introduced to James, Albus, and Lily.

“Harry,” he said, not quite meeting Harry's eyes.

Harry didn't say anything. He was pretty sure he was going to fly apart at any moment and that the only way to forestall it was to keep his mouth shut.

“Kathy has tea almost made. You should all come in.”

So they all went into the little house.

“Muggle things!” Albus said, flitting delightedly from the digital clock to the television and radio, and even a shelf of cheap paperbacks in the sitting room with delight. James sniffed, as if he were better than anything Muggles might have to offer.

Lily had not stopped talking. “Do you go by George? Or Georgie? Or just Georgia? It's such a pretty name. I like my name too. Can I see your room? Do you have a room or do you have to share? I have my own room. You can come stay in it sometime and we can play with my dollhouse and make tarts and brush each other's hair and try on makeup charms. I have a special brush that brushes your hair for you and it never hurts. And you have red hair like my other cousins! Well, it's almost red!”

The little girl, Georgia, looked like her eyes had doubled in size. “Is your brush magic?” she asked.

“Yes!” Lily said, delighted to have gotten some words out of this small, taciturn cousin. “Mum says I have bad hair and that a Hovering Hairbrush was the only thing that could fix it.”

“Oh, Merlin, Lily. I did not say you have bad hair!” Ginny complained, but Lily was obviously not paying any attention to her parents.

“Excuse me, Uncle Dudley, can Georgia show me her room?” Lily asked. And then the girls were off, headed up the stairs. Harry watched them go, feeling like he'd just sent his youngest into an angry acromantula nest.

When they got to the dining table, Ginny gave the boys a deck of Exploding Snap to try and keep them busy and somehow Harry was introduced to Kathy Dursley, who was short and slightly plump, with blond hair and rosy cheeks and a shirt that showed off ample cleavage.

“I've been cooking Mediterranean,” Kathy said. “I hope that's all right. Dud didn't know what sort of food you liked. He's useless.”

Dudley huffed slightly but smiled. “Sorry about that.”

“I'm sure anything you make will be wonderful,” Ginny said.

Alfie, the toddler with the muddy face, who Dudley had set on the floor just moments before, suddenly dashed past everyone, picked up some sort of a brightly colored gun and shot it at Harry.

Before whatever it was could hit him, Harry had his wand out and had vanished the weapon and whatever the projectile was and the toddler was bound in ropes.

“Harry!” Ginny said.

“Whoa, Dad!” James said.

Harry felt his heart pounding and his head spinning like he'd just run a marathon then gone on a playground roundabout.

“I do hate those foam dart shooting things,” Kathy said, though her voice was shaking. “Honestly, you've probably done us a favor. They were a gift from his grandmother...”

Still clutching his wand, Harry walked out the nearest door and into the back garden.

He stood by a large tree taking deep gulps of breath for what seemed like several minutes before he sank down to the ground, not bothering about the dirt and put his head between his knees.

When he heard footsteps a few minutes later, he looked up just as Ginny said, “It's your wife. Don't hex me or anything.”

Harry huffed and buried his head down again.

“I untied Alfie. He's fine, by the way. I have some calming drought in my bag,” Ginny said. “Maybe just a small bit?”

Harry reached out the hand that didn't hold his wand and took the tiny proffered bottle, but he didn't drink it.

Ginny sat down on the bottom on a slide that was part of a little backyard swingset.

“The kids...” Harry said, looking up, his chest suddenly tight again. He started to stand up.

“No,” Ginny said sharply. “The kids are fine. If anything, worry about your cousins. Jamie is offering everyone the Bertie Bott's beans that he saved up in nasty flavors and I think Albus might be taking apart their television. I swear, he's worse than Dad. And it's possible Lily has smothered that poor girl upstairs.”

“Hmph,” Harry said.

“Take the bloody potion,” Ginny said.

“You don't know what they were like,” Harry said, leaning his head back against the tree. “Abusive, racist, horrible gits.”

“He was a kid,” Ginny said. “If you'd taken the trouble to read the letters, you'd know he's apologized.”

“Oh, that's all fine then,” Harry said. “Sorry we locked you in a cupboard. Sorry we made you cook our meals. Sorry we never fed or clothed you properly. I suppose we're square now.”

“I wouldn't ask you to go see your aunt and uncle,” Ginny said.

“Some of it was all him,” Harry said. “Sorry I pulled down your trousers on the playground during recess. Sorry I held your head in a toilet and flushed it half a dozen times. Sorry I once invented a game that involved kicking you every time anyone said Dudley.”

“Georgia...” Ginny started.

“She looks just like Lily,” Harry choked.

“Um… a bit, I suppose,” Ginny said.

“No. Not our Lily. She looks like my mum. I saw her once, just a bit older than that. She was in Snape's memories. That light, light red hair in two little braids. The freckles. It's uncanny.”

“Oh.”

Harry shoved his wand back in his pocket. “Fuck.”

“If you drink it, it doesn't mean you're weak.”

“Oh, fuck you.” He felt irrationally angry at Ginny and how calm and collected she was being. Didn't anyone else want to blow something up? He looked at the tiny potion vial and uncorked it, tipping a small sip into his mouth and swallowing it down.

He hated how he could literally feel his heart rate slow down, the buzz in his head quiet, the desire to run or hex something or run and then hex something dulling to almost nothing.

“Better?”

“Yes, ma'am.”

She grimaced and stood up off the slide to take the vial. “Don't. I can take if you need to be angry at me, but not your sarcasm.”

Harry stood up. Everything was a little dulled now. The edge was off all the color in the garden. He didn't know how to explain that he wasn't trying to be sarcastic. He was just ready to let Ginny be in charge, ready to let go and just let happen what needed to happen. And maybe once he got through it he could be angry again. Or maybe he'd be able to let it go. Or maybe he'd go out and get really drunk or pull some handsome bloke in a bar. Or maybe he'd find a fight worth having at work on Monday. Or best yet, maybe Ginny would tell him how to deal with it all or would hold him down and take the pain all away after the kids went to bed.

Saying thank you didn't cover it. Or saying anything. So he kissed her lightly on the lips and hoped that said it. Or said something. It didn't feel like much to him, but she gave him a small smile.

They went back inside and Ginny did an excellent job of pretending nothing untoward had happened. Dudley talked about his work, which was something dull sounding in a building that made metal parts for large machinery. Kathy was a former runner back in school and she and Ginny got to talking about sports. Harry thought maybe at the end of this, Ginny was going to end up running a marathon with Kathy. It didn't even sound that preposterous.

The food was good, though Harry always thought his taste buds were a little dulled on a calming potion of any kind. James looked at the strange chickpeas and poked at everything with his fork but Albus seemed delighted by the food, asking for seconds, and Lily never ate more than a few bites of anything unless it was ice cream. She and Georgia each had one of Georgia's dolls and asked to be excused after their requisite bites to play with the dolls in the garden.

The moment they went outside, Kathy practically burst into tears. Harry braced himself for whatever was about to happen.

Dudley put his arm around his wife awkwardly. “See. She'll be fine.”

“She doesn't make friends with any of the other kids,” Kathy explained. “She's always sitting in a corner by herself in school. I just… thank you both, thank you for bringing Lily. She's… oh my.”

“Maybe we can put them together and make a normal girl who doesn't talk too much or too little,” James observed.

“I can mix up a potion for that!” Albus declared.

Ginny glared at Harry and he realized he was probably supposed to intervene, but he wasn't sure what to say.

“James! That was uncalled for!” Ginny scolded. “And Albus.” She shook her head. “He really can't. He can't do anything more complicated than soup.”

“Hey!” Albus said. “I thought you liked my soup.”

“I do, darling. But it's a far cry from felix felicis.”

“One day, I'll make all the potions!”

“Potions are for Slytherins,” James said.

“Take that back!” Albus said, and launched himself at his brother in the next chair.

Ginny yelled, “Oi!” She pulled out her wand and flicked it at them. They bounced apart. “Company behavior, you two.”

“They're family,” Albus said.

“Not Weasley family,” James said, smirking at his brother.

“Sorry,” Harry muttered.

“Honestly, you could do anything and it would be fine,” Kathy said. “I was so scared when I first saw Georgia,” her voice dropped to a whisper, “move things around. I thought I was going crazy. Thank god Dudley knew all about it.”

“They're not half as bad as I was at that age,” Dudley said. Harry met his eyes for a moment before turning away.

They managed to finish the rest of the meal in peace and Ginny promised they would have all of them over the following month before James left for Hogwarts for the first time. Harry blinked but didn't say anything. He could feel his sip of the calming potion wearing off and he was ready to get out of there.

As everyone said their goodbyes, Lily giving the wide-eyed Georgia another suffocating hug and Albus looking suspiciously cheerful, Dudley hesitantly tapped Harry on the arm.

Harry clenched his fists and stood in the doorway facing his cousin as his family waited at the sidewalk.

“Thanks for coming,” Dudley said. “I… It didn't come up, but your wife said something about you not reading the letters and...”

“What?” Harry asked.

“Just thought I should say sorry. And I didn't know if you knew Dad had died last year.”

“What?” Harry repeated, slightly stunned.

“Heart attack. Hardly a surprise, huh? Mum moved to a senior apartment in Surrey. She talks my ear off about how horrible it is. She wanted to come live with us, but… Well, with Georgia and all, I didn't really trust her. She called her a weirdo last time we were over and I got pretty angry. She spoils Alfie and always tries to give him toy guns. Anyway, she's still bitter about you. She'd have a fit if she knew we'd had you around for tea.”

Harry's mind reeled. Vernon Dursley was dead.

“Just thought you should know,” Dudley said. “You don't have to like us. I don't mind, really. If your lot will just be good to Georgia, that would be brilliant for her. That's all I ask.”

Harry felt like his knees were weak. It would have been easier, he thought, if Dudley could have just been the sort of git he expected him to be.

“She seems like a good kid,” Harry said.

Dudley beamed. “Yeah. Thanks.”

“I'll see you in a few weeks,” Harry said, hurrying away.

At the sidewalk, Ginny grabbed his hand and held it tightly, her fingers locked with his. Lily babbled on about Georgia and having a cousin just her age, only a little younger. James talked about quidditch and Albus kept getting him by insulting various Canons players and talking about how well the Harpies were doing. It was a sure sign that Ginny wasn't really paying attention that she didn't join into the family quidditch rivalry talk, but somehow it didn't lead the boys to descend into squabbling.

Once they'd gotten to the portkey Harry had arranged and then gotten back home, it was getting late. Ginny let Albus and Lily watch the illustrations in their Children's Beetle the Bard act out animated versions of their stories. James had a Muggle series about Greek myths he was excitedly reading.

Harry found himself shivering despite the summer warmth. “Maybe I should go out...” he said as Ginny put the kids in their rooms.

“Don't you dare,” she said. But then she paused. “Unless… Would you rather call on your Muggle bloke. I don't mind. I just thought...”

“No,” he said. He really just wanted her. He needed her, he just wasn't sure how to say it. He wasn't even in the mood for sex.

“Go get in bed,” she ordered.

A few minutes later, she appeared with a bottle of firewhiskey. “Go on,” she said. “We're parents. We get to do our drinking in bed.”

Harry snorted, but he took the firewhiskey and took a long drink before handing it back to her. She seemed to understand that he didn't want anything but her presence so over the next hour, they drank and played chess with the set Ron had given him for his birthday several years before. The chess pieces clearly found it undignified to be placed on a bed and they grumbled about it when they were dispatched and ended up on the mattress watching the game.

Then, finally, Harry felt sleepy enough to go to bed. Ginny climbed into his arms and flicked off the lights. 

“It'll be better tomorrow,” he said finally.

“It usually is.”

“Our kids are lucky,” he said. He didn't know how to articulate just how lucky they were. It wasn't because they were wizards. Kids who were loved were just lucky.

“So are Alfie and Georgia,” Ginny said quietly after a few seconds.

“Yeah.” A small sob rose up in his chest and he quashed it down, hugging Ginny closer in the dark.


End file.
